Dear Cathy: My husband and I have a 1-year-old terrier mix we rescued when she was only a few weeks old. Since then, my husband has her very well trained. She knows several tricks and recognizes a lot of vocabulary, like “sit,” “down,” etc.

However, she has not been able to learn “no bite.” She is very playful, but sometimes likes to bite our hands and doesn't listen when we ask her to stop. My husband thinks that it may be because she was weaned too early. She's a great dog, but not a small dog (30 pounds). I worry that if she does not learn this command she might unintentionally hurt us or visitors. What do you suggest?

Jackie

Dear Jackie: Puppies learn biting inhibitions from their mothers or from siblings during play. A puppy who receives a hard bite from another pup will “yelp” to let the other puppy know they are playing too rough. You can do the same thing with your dog.

When she nips your hand, “yelp,” stop all play and withdraw attention for 10 to 20 seconds. This lets her know she has done something wrong. When you re-engage her, offer her a toy instead of your hand. Praise her for playing and nipping the toy instead. If she nips you again, “yelp” and withdraw attention again or leave the room. Always re-engage her in less than a minute. She doesn't want you to leave, so will learn to behave to keep you around. It could take several days or weeks of training for her to learn the appropriate behavior.

When praising her for nipping the toy and not you, you may also use clicker training or a reward word, like “bingo,” to reinforce the training. If you haven't used a clicker or reward word before, you would have to teach her what these things mean with one of her other tricks, like sit. When you ask her to sit and she sits, you click or say “bingo,” and then give her a treat. The click and reward word acknowledge the correct behavior and promise a treat will follow. Dogs quickly make the connection between doing what you ask or what's expected and receiving a treat.

Telling her “no bite” won't process in her canine brain. Catch her doing something right (not nipping you) and give her praise and a treat. When she nips, withdraw attention, re-engage her shortly after and give her toys to chew on instead. Be consistent and I think you will begin to see some results.